


She's Taking Me Back To The Skies

by xLoveMx



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Cinderella AU, F/F, Newsies - Freeform, newsbians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-29
Updated: 2016-06-15
Packaged: 2018-02-19 04:50:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2375222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xLoveMx/pseuds/xLoveMx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sarah has dreamed of going to a ball ever since she was little, Katherine hates nothing more than these balls where everyone dresses fancy and pretends to be someone they are not. This year her father holds the annual 'End Of The Summer Ball' to find a husband for her, which makes everything even worse, but what happens when these two meet at that very ball? Things may never be the same again...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

Katherine had dreaded this day. Year by year she had gone to this ball, and she had never been particularly fond of all the fancy and stuck up people, bragging about their newest jewellery or how good their handicap was, but she had made it through, her head held high and the perfect smile on her face. Katherine Elizabeth Pulitzer had been raised that way and while she knew how to be a rebel when she was alone with her father, a rare occurrence though, she wasn´t quite brave enough to stand up to an entire crowd of people that were like him.

Katherine´s mother had died when she was very young, so she barely remembered anything about her, only the faint smell of her perfume when she had tucked her in at night and kissed her hair, mumbling _“Goodnight my sweet angel, I´ll see you when the sun wakes from its slumber,”_ but one day she hadn´t seen her anymore. She had been too young to understand that her mother wouldn´t be coming back and while she couldn´t quite prove it, Katherine felt like her father had changed ever since that day. He had never been particularly affectionate towards her, but ever since her mother died she had barely seen him around. She had been raised by a nanny, one that she still held really dear to her heart, but she had only ever seen her father during dinner or lunch, if he had managed to take a break and leave his office, that was.  She had taken after him when it came to her stubbornness though, so whenever they actually saw each other she had something to complain about, like the fact that she really didn´t need to be home-schooled, because she wanted to go out and experience what it was like to be out in the real world, to walk to school and not to be driven around in carriages whenever she wanted to go somewhere. Of course he had never listened to her, which was why Katherine had ended up sneaking out more often than it was respectable for a young lady, or any girl, really.

She didn´t regret it though, because on her trips she had learned more about life than any book could ever teach her, and she had been convinced, more than ever, that she wanted to get out into the world and write. She wanted to travel and write about the things she would see, have adventures in Europe and maybe even go to South America and discover new species of plants or animals in the jungle.

Of course her father had other plans for her, and Katherine wasn´t 18 yet, so she couldn´t access the money her mother had left her, which meant that she was stuck here and forced to attend the same ball she had been attending since she had been fourteen, only this time it was held to find the perfect candidate to marry her. Katherine didn´t want to get married, not yet. Sure, she wanted to have a family one day, but all these young men at the parties and balls, she had grown up with most of them, were deemed to take over their father´s companies and they wouldn´t be very fond of a wife who´d rather spend her time travelling the world, looking for adventures to write about, than to stay at home and cook for them.

Some of them were nice, like Darcy for example. They had played quite a bit together when they had been kids, but he was also going to take over his father´s newspaper and even if he told her that she would be free to do whatever, Katherine couldn´t quite trust him. She suspected that it had to do with her mother´s early death and her father turning away from her, but that was another thing she didn´t like to think about.

Here she was now though, dressed in the most fancy and most expensive dress she had ever seen, and that was quite something because Katherine had seen a lot of fancy dresses in her time, waiting for her big entrance. Usually this ball was held so everyone could gather at the end of summer, when the season of spending half your day playing golf and talking business if you were a man, and lunching and gossiping if you were a woman, was over, but this year Katherine was old enough to finally find someone to marry her. Pulitzer had talked to them all beforehand, because he wasn´t just going to marry his daughter off to anyone (At this point Katherine wasn´t quite sure whether he actually cared about her or just about the fact that his business was taken care of) and yet he had somehow managed to invite a whole lot of people and Katherine wasn´t quite sure how she was supposed get through the night dancing with and talking to all of them.  
She sighed to herself as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. The dress was too big, not when it came to size, it had been made especially for this occasion, but it was just too much, for her. Too many bows and ruches and just…too much of everything. Her hair was in a fancy updo, done by a hairdresser Pulitzer had paid to come all the way across the country, while her nanny would have been able to do just the same for a lot less money, but it didn´t matter to Joseph Pulitzer. It was weird, how money was wasted so easily, like it was nothing, and yet it meant everything to her father.

There was a knock on the door then and Katherine turned her head when the voice of the maid called from the other side. “Miss Katherine? It´s almost time,”

Katherine supressed another sigh and turned back, staring at her reflection in the mirror one last time. “I´m coming,”

-

Sarah had waited for this day all of her life, or so it seemed. She had always dreamed of being able to attend a ball once, but she had been born into a family that was the opposite of rich. She didn´t mind, most of the time, because love and family meant more than money, she had been taught that from a very young age, but whenever she read the paper and saw another picture of all the women dressed up in the most beautiful dresses she wished that she could be one of them, even if it was just for one night. She wanted to wear a fancy dress and dance all night, maybe even find her prince charming. It sounded like those fairytales her mother had read to her when she was young, (Sarah still kept the book hidden under her bed and got it out at night sometimes, reading all those stories that she had loved so much as a kid) and she had always dreamed about being able to wear one of those dresses, to enter a room and have all eyes on her as she walked onto the dance floor. Those women were all Sarah ever wanted to be, and for one night she wished she could be the one they adored.

That night had come though, because she would finally be able to attend one of those balls. It was risky, that was true, but she had worked too hard for this to not go. She had used every penny she had earned from work to save up so she could buy everything she needed to sew herself a dress. Granted, it wasn´t as high quality as all those other dresses the women at the ball were going to were, but Sarah was proud of herself and her work and the dress really was beautiful, even David, her little brother, had admitted to that.

Fortunately the women at this year´s ball were required to wear masks, so nobody would notice that Sarah didn´t really belong there, if she didn´t attract too much attention that was. She knew she couldn´t stay in one place for too long, but she suspected that the house of Mr. Pulitzer, who owned one of the biggest newspapers in town, was big enough to slip from room to room and to not be seen in one place for too long. Sarah was smart, and she had this all planned through,  she´s had years to prepare for this after all, and she was going to have the time of her life.

Some of David´s friend´s had helped her though, and she was beyond thankful for it. They had managed to get her a beautiful mask that fit with the color of her dress and was slim enough to just cover the upper half of her face, enough to not be recognized but also _‘showing off enough of ‘er beautiful face’_ as Race had put it. The thing Sarah had worried most about was how she would get into the party, because it was obviously _invitation only_ , and sneaking into the house through a window in the back with a dress like hers wasn´t really an option, but again David´s friend had helped her out. Somehow Romeo was rather good friends with one of the cooks at the Pulitzer Mansion and the boy owed him a favour, which Romeo was cashing in by having him let Sarah in through the backdoor. She had protested at first, because she knew that favours were a big thing with the boys, and something that was very valuable, and she couldn´t ask them to give one up just for her, but they hadn´t even let her finish, so Sarah had accepted eventually and promised to cook them all dinner at some point, which they had gladly accepted.

Of course her parents had been the next problem on the long list of problems she´s had to face. Had they known what Sarah was planning they would have probably grounded her for life, but David had managed to lure them out of the house for the night. Medda was having a premiere of a new show at the theatre tonight and it was rather fancy, for their circumstances, with a reception and a party afterwards, so they would be out all night. Sarah had even kept her dress at the Lodging House, knowing it would be safe with the boys, so her mother wouldn´t have found it should she have gone through her things.

Now she was almost done, all dressed up and her hair falling over shoulders in curls. Most of the boys were sitting on their beds, staring, because Sarah looked absolutely breathtaking. As soon as she was done fixing the dress she took a twirl, a soft laugh escaping her throat when the boys started cheering. She was happy, happier than she had been in a long time, and Sarah just knew that this was going to be the best night of her life and nothing could convince her otherwise.

“Alright, are you ready?” Dave asked then and Sarah nodded as Jack appeared next to her. “May I?” he then offered his arm and Sarah chuckled with a nod, taking it before they made their way down the stairs. “We have a little surprise for you,” David then added, his lips curled into a smile too now and Sarah raised an eyebrow at him.

“What did you do, David?” she asked, but he simply kept smiling as he opened the door so Sarah and Jack could walk outside. It took Sarah a moment to realize that the carriage, which was painted white and looked like the most beautiful and fanciest carriage she had ever seen, was meant for her. “I…what? Where did you get this? That must have cost a fortune!” she exclaimed before pressing a hand to her mouth.

“Don´t worry ‘bout it,” Jack grinned, escorting Sarah to the carriage where the driver was opening the door for her at this very moment. “Spot knows some people, and while we knows ya can´t drive all the way to the house we thought it would be a nice gesture, the carriage´s gonna wait for ya where they let ya out so ya can get back on time,” he was still grinning and Sarah was practically beaming by the time Jack helped her into the carriage. Once the door was closed, she leaned out of the window to look at all of the Newsies, who had come outside to watch.

“Remember,” David then said, stepping a little closer to the carriage. “You have to be home by midnight, I can keep mother and father out until then, but I don´t think they will want to stay much longer once Medda´s party is over.” He looked directly at his sister then and Sarah could tell that he was being serious about this.

“Of course, David. I´ll be on time, I promise.” She then smiled, too excited to get into a discussion about this. Sure, Sarah was always on time and she wouldn´t lie, especially not to her own brother, but David had a habit of wanting to discuss things, and while sometimes it was fun but she really had other things on her mind right now.

“Good,” David didn´t seem to want to fight her this time though, because he took a step back and moved to stand with the other boys while Sarah raised her hand to wave at them as the carriage finally began to move. She could feel her stomach fluttering as her smile grew even wider and she only really pulled back from the window and leaned against the seat, the mask in her hand, when the boys and the Lodging House were out of sight.

This was it, she was really going to be at an actual ball, dancing, laughing and enjoying herself, and Sarah couldn´t wait. For the longest time she had thought that she wouldn´t be able to actually do this, but she had worked hard to earn the money for her dress and the boys had really been like a fairy godmother to her, or a bunch of fairy godmothers really, and she couldn´t be happier as she drove off into the night, the music from the ball already ringing in her ears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I´ve finally written the Cinderella AU, or started it, at least. I hope I can do it justice and that you´re enjoying this. Please let me know what you think! :) <3


	2. Chapter 2

Sarah could feel her excitement growing the nearer they got to the mansion where the ball was held. She could see how the neighbourhood slowly changed from the high, partly run down city buildings to the neat, old and mostly big houses that were owned by the richer people of the town. Sarah knew she didn´t belong here, and usually she didn´t complain about where they lived, she never really complained about anything actually, but for one night she wanted to belong, wanted to be the one that fit in with all these fancy people and the big houses, and she would be. There was nothing that could stop her, Sarah just…felt it in her bones. Her heart was beating a little faster and her hands were a little sweaty, but it was a good feeling, she knew, because she couldn´t keep the smile off her face.

It wasn´t long until the carriage came to a halt and the door was opened, the coachman coming to help her out. The Pulitzer mansion was still a few houses away, but Sarah knew she couldn´t get out in front of it, not when she wanted to sneak in through the back. She smiled, thanking the man and then telling him that she would be back soon. David had told her to be back home by midnight, so she assumed she would be back at the carriage at around half past eleven, that would give her enough time to get home and hide the dress before David and her parents returned.

The mansion was easy enough to find, it was one of the biggest houses in the street and it was illuminated brightly, standing out against the pitch black night sky, and there were people streaming in through the big french doors at the front. The men were all dressed in suits and smiling, beautiful women in fancy dresses on their arms. Sarah didn´t mind that she didn´t have anyone to accompany her, she was sure that she would find someone to dance with once she was inside, and as soon as she got to dance she would be happy. She watched the people for a moment longer before she moved to round the building, making sure to be as quiet as possible and to check whether or not anyone was around to see her. Fortunately there wasn´t, so she made it to the backdoor without getting into any trouble. There was a secret knock they had come up with, one Sarah had found herself repeating ever so often during the day just so she wouldn´t forget about it.

It didn´t take long until the door was opened by a young man, not much older than Sarah, whom she suspected to be the cook. She gave him a smile, her heart beating even faster now that she was about to actually get into the house.

“Well Romeo told me that you were beautiful, but now I think he might have not been entirely honest. You´re stunning,” he grinned and Sarah found herself blushing as she slipped past the man and into the kitchen. Everyone was busy trying to get the food and the drinks right and out on time, so nobody took notice of them standing in the corner.  “If you go through that door you´ll be in the corridor, just walk down there and then through the big door, it´ll lead you right into the great hall,” the man then explained. “And you can get out through the front door afterwards, they don´t check for invitations when you leave,” he added and Sarah then thanked him, quickly making her way over to the door. She opened it a crack and peeked through it then, just to make sure that nobody was there so see her, because she wasn´t quite sure how to explain that she was coming out of the kitchen right about now. Once she was sure that nobody else was around though, she slipped through the door and then stood in the corridor.

For a moment it seemed never ending and Sarah wondered just how big this house really was. The walls were decorated with expensive looking lamps and paintings that showed various version of the same man, Mr. Pulitzer. Sarah had read about him in the papers, and of course there had been a picture included, various pictures actually, and she figured he could put in as many pictures of himself as he wanted, since he owned the newspaper.

The closer Sarah came to the big door at the end of the corridor, the clearer she could hear the music and the voices coming from the other side. People were laughing and chatting and it seemed like the ball was already in full force and that had Sarah´s stomach fluttering. She was really here and she was going to do this. She would be part of something she had dreamed about for such a long time and for a moment she was frozen on the spot. Not because she was scared, no, but because this was a dream come true and she needed a moment to process it all. After standing behind the door for a minute, just listening to the music and the laughter, Sarah took a deep breath and the put on her mask, making sure it fit perfectly so she could still see through it and wouldn´t show too much of her face.

“This is it…” she muttered to herself, her stomach fluttering once more as she opened the door, slipping through.

-

Katherine felt like she was about to throw up, even though she knew she wouldn´t. That only made it worse though, because at least she would be feeling better if she threw up, but this way she would have to walk around with this feeling all evening, smiling, dancing and pretending to be happy. It was what she was used to though, sadly, and for now there was no way out of it. She took a deep breath as she made her way down the corridor and towards the big staircase, which led down into the great hall where the ball was held.

Katherine could hear the music and the voices coming from downstairs and she could tell that everyone was having a great time. She momentarily wondered if anyone down there knew how she really felt, that she wanted to scream, to pack her bags and run away, but they probably didn´t. everyone was having a great time and they expected it to be the same for her, this ball was held especially for her after all.

“If they only knew…” she muttered to herself as she held onto the bannister, waiting for her father to announce that she was coming down the stairs. Another thing that Katherine thought of as unnecessary. Why did her entrance have to be announced? Everyone knew she was here, and everyone knew what she looked like, especially since she was the only female without a mask.

Her father had decided that the attention should be on her and on her only, so Katherine had to stick out from the crowd, which had resulted in her not wearing a mask. She had protested, because that literally gave her no chance to hide anywhere, but her father hadn´t listened to her, as per usual, so she had given up. It wasn´t something that was worth fighting and screaming over, because she knew that it would only make it worse, and Katherine just wanted this to get over with.

-

Sarah almost felt a little dizzy. She had blended into the crowd perfectly, or at least to the extent that nobody had given her a strange look or pointed at her for not belonging here. Sure, they couldn´t really know that she didn´t, but a small part of her had thought that maybe, maybe someone could tell that she wasn´t supposed to be here, but no. Everything was going great, she was constantly being smiled at by the young men passing her by and some women had even complimented her dress. Sarah was practically beaming and had even been offered a glass of champagne, which she had declined though, for now at least. She wanted to make sure that this night was something she remembered and she was a lightweight, so she was most likely to get tipsy rather fast and she really didn´t want to fall over her own feet while dancing.

It took about ten minutes until a young man in a black suit, and a flower in the button hole of his jacket, asked her to dance. Sarah was smiling brightly at him, nodding, and before she could even say anything she was pulled onto the dance floor and whirled around. Her father had taught her how to dance at a young age and she still remembered standing on top of his feet as they danced around a living room. She had come a long way from back then and it made her smile even wider as they danced across the floor, more than one pair of eyes on them. It wasn´t until the music came to a stop that Sarah came back to herself. This was all she had ever dreamed of, and she knew that she would spend the whole night dancing and laughing. For now everyone had gone quiet though, because Pulitzer was standing on the foot of the big staircase, looking over the crowd. One of his employees was ringing a small bell, something to attract everyone´s attention, or at least that´s what Sarah figured. It was most definitely working though, because the people in the hall gad gone quiet and were looking expectantly at him.

“Welcome, people.” He said with a nod and if Sarah was being honest then she had imagined his voice to be a little…different? It wasn´t as deep, or reaching the back of the hall, like she had thought, but it wasn´t her business so she shouldn´t wonder about it, right? “I am happy you are able to attend this ball, especially this year, because it´s a special year. You all know my daughter Katherine, who has turned seventeen this year, and I have decided that it´s time for her to find a husband. You all have been invited to enjoy yourself, but also for me to see which one of you fine young man is the right one for my daughter,” he nodded and soon the bell was rung again because people had started whispering as a reaction to what Pulitzer had said.

“Quiet!”

The room fell silent immediately and Sarah instinctively took a step backwards. The man seemed harmless at first, but somehow she had the feeling that he wasn´t the best person to be around. She didn´t have much time to think about it though, because soon enough he was speaking up again.

“As I said: I am here to find the right husband for my daughter. Of course you may enjoy yourself as well, like every year. So without any further do: Please welcome my daughter, Katherine Pulitzer,”

Her father had always called her by her full name when she had been younger, that was one of the few other things she had remembered, but Elizabeth had been the name of her mother, and ever since she had died he had never said her name out loud again, which also meant that _‘Katherine Elizabeth Pulitzer, come here right now!’_ had turned into _‘Katherine Pulitzer’,_ if he ever made the effort to actually call out for her.

Those were the things that ran through Katherine´s mind as she descended the stairs, all eyes on her. She knew exactly what was going through most of their minds, but it wasn´t like it actually mattered. Soon she would be down there, everyone would be telling her how beautiful she was and that it would be an honor to dance with her, even though she knew that most of them were only in it for her father´s company, and the worst thing was that it didn´t seem as outrageous to anyone as it did to her.

-

The moment Katherine had come down the stairs, Sarah had been frozen in place. Of course she had known about the special occasion this ball was under this year, and she had tried imagining Katherine before, because Sarah had assumed that she would be the fanciest dressed girl at the ball, but nothing she had imagined could have prepared her for the beauty she was faced with now. Sure, the dress must have cost a fortune, and the hair looked like it had taken hours to be put into the state in which it was now, but beneath all that, Sarah could see just how beautiful Katherine was. Her face, her skin, her slim figure, the way her eyes seemed to be open and bright, even if there was a certain sadness to them, a sadness that wouldn´t be visible to everyone that didn´t take a closer look. Sarah had taken it though, and she could feel her stomach fluttering again, much like it had done when she had made her way here, but there was something to it, something different this time. It was something she couldn´t quite put her finger on though, and before she could even begin to think about it any further, Katherine had disappeared into the crowd, immediately being surrounded by young men, and Sarah was still standing where she had been a moment ago while everyone was back to chatting and laughing, and she didn´t even notice that someone had asked her to dance.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helloooooooo I am back with a new chapter, finally. I´m still suffering of a writer´s block of some sort, but I´m working on it and I hope you guys enjoy the new chapter, thanks for being so patient x

Dancing with all these young men was nice, and Sarah had to admit that it gave her a certain thrill that they didn´t know who she really was, that she wasn´t one of these rich girls that were looking for a husband, that she was really just here to dance, or had been here to dance, really. It wasn´t like she wasn´t enjoying herself, but Sarah couldn´t help but look over at Katherine every now and then, her eyes following the other girl around the room as both of them danced with various people. Sure, the other girl was constantly smiling and nodding, and yet nobody seemed to noticed that her smile faltered every time she thought that nobody was looking, nobody but Sarah. She couldn´t imagine what could possibly be wrong with Katherine though, this was a ball that was held simply for her and she could dance all night, wasn´t that what every girl dreamed of?

_Or maybe that´s just poor girls like you that can´t afford fancy dresses and parties like this every weekend._

Truth be told, Sarah didn´t think that she herself would be ready to marry any time soon, not unless it was against her own will, and maybe it was the same for Katherine. Maybe she was tired of all of this, something Sarah could imagine but not quite understand, because she hadn´t been through it. Had she been in Katherine position, had she been raised this way, then maybe she would have felt the same, but right now she just felt sorry for the girl because this was supposed to be a great night and yet Katherine looked quite miserable when you took a closer look. Sarah figured that she wouldn´t have noticed it as much if the other girl would have worn a mask, but the way things were now she was fully exposed to everyone and the simple thought of how she must have been feeling made Sarah´s stomach twist.

The next song was over quickly, it almost felt as if Sarah had missed most of it even if she had been dancing perfectly, never falling out of step. She took a quick bow and gave the boy a bright smile before he moved on to look for another girl to dance with. Sarah was sure that someone else would offer her a dance soon, because there were more young men than there were girls whom they could ask for a dance, and yet she didn´t go looking for one. Her eyes were on Katherine once more, who had just finished another dance as well, and seemed to be excusing herself. Sarah wasn´t quite sure if it was allowed for her to simply disappear, like it was just happening, through one of the big doors in the back of the hall, but apparently Katherine didn´t care.

Sarah didn´t even get to think about her next move, she didn´t even realize the young man who had appeared in front of her, ready to ask her for a dance, before she turned and made her way through the crowd, leaving the confused, and maybe slightly hurt, boy to himself. She surely wasn´t allowed to be anywhere that wasn´t the great hall or the bathroom, but then again Sarah wasn´t actually allowed to be here at all, so she figured that it wouldn´t change much. She could always say that she had gotten lost, those things usually always worked, especially if you were a girl and who knew how far she would get anyway? Katherine didn´t know her, and Sarah didn´t know Katherine, so she could throw her out as soon as she had seen her, but there was just something about the other girl that was pulling Sarah in. She hadn´t exactly seemed happy all evening, and Sarah wanted to make sure that she was at least okay and maybe ask if she could do something to help her.

The door fell shut behind her soon enough and she barely caught a glimpse of Katherine disappearing around the corner. Her sight was slightly limited through the mask, but Sarah didn´t dare to take it off due to the fear of being recognized as someone who didn´t belong here. Still she hurried around the corner and up the stairs that appeared in front of her, having seen the hem of Katherine´s dress disappear on top of the stairs. Thinking back on it, Sarah would have probably thought of herself as stupid, but in that moment it seemed like the right thing to do.

It wasn´t until she stood in front of the door of the room in which she had watched Katherine disappear, that Sarah stopped to think for a moment. What was she even going to say? She knew almost nothing about Katherine, or at least nothing that she hadn´t heard through the papers or Pulitzer´s speech not long ago, yet she had a feeling that this wasn´t the real Katherine. That the real Katherine was in there right now and maybe she didn´t want company at all. Still, Sarah didn´t move. At least not until she realized that it would be far more stupid to be caught standing in front of a closed door than to be sent away. At least then she could go back to the ball and spend the rest of the night doing what she had come here for: _dancing_

She raised her hand and knocked then, not even waiting for an answer before entering. Her parents would have cringed, because that was most definitely not how they had raised her, but then again they hadn´t raised her to sneak into a ball that she hadn´t been invited to either, so Sarah tried not to think about either of these things too much. Katherine, who had apparently been standing at the window, was now facing the door and Sarah wasn´t quite sure whether she was angry or surprised. Her primary emotion seemed to have been anger, but now that she was facing Sarah she seemed more surprised than anything.

 _She probably expected her father and not a complete stranger,_ Sarah thought, carefully taking a few steps into the room and closing the door. “Hello.” She managed, her eyes meeting with Katherine´s for a moment. The other girl seemed too confused to say something, or maybe she just didn´t want to, so Sarah decided to just go for it. “I know this might seem strange to you, but…I saw you disappear, and you didn´t look too happy, actually you haven´t really looked happy all night, and I know I might be overstepping a line here,” _You´re most definitely overstepping a line here,_ a voice in her head reminded her, but Sarah willed it away before continuing. “But I just wanted to make sure that you are okay, or well…at least not alone. Unless…that´s what you want, then I apologize. I should probably apologize anyway,” Sarah then muttered, fiddling with part of her dress. The room suddenly seemed too big for her, the entire house did, and maybe it had been a mistake to come here, a stupid dream that she just couldn´t forget, something that should have stayed a fantasy in her head. Or maybe she should have just stayed in the great hall and danced like she had planned to. Some of the boys sometimes told her that she was too kind hearted, that she always wanted to help everyone that was in trouble or sad, and that was what had brought her into this situation after all, hadn´t it? So maybe they were right.

“You haven´t been to one of these balls before, have you?” Katherine asked and Sarah looked up again, a little surprised. It didn´t seem like she was angry at all, her voice almost sounded tired, like she was giving in to whatever it was that was bothering her.

“No,” Sarah found herself saying honestly, because she didn´t want to lie any more than she already had. If Katherine was going to throw her out then that was what was going to happen, she wasn´t even quite sure if she wanted to go back and dance again. “How do you know?

Katherine almost let out a laugh at that and any other day Sarah might have joined in, because this situation was just completely ridiculous, but something was telling her that Katherine wasn´t laughing because she actually thought that it was funny. “Well, as you might have noticed, you´re the only person who actually noticed that something is off with me, and who came after me,” she shook her head. “Most of the boys here have come to get a chance to marry me and the girls are hoping to find a husband in those boys that I have dismissed,” Katherine knew that it sounded terrible, but that´s how it was and if that was the truth, well then the truth was terrible, it wasn´t any news to her. “What´s your name?”

Sarah was looking at the other girl for a moment, considering to just tell her a lie, but what were the chances that they would actually see each other again? Katherine had said it herself, she would get a husband, get married, maybe even move away, and it wasn´t like they shared the same social circle and Sarah was still wearing her mask so even if they saw each other in the streets somewhere, which was also very unlikely, Katherine probably wouldn´t recognize her.

“Sarah,” she then told her, the hint of a smile on her face. She wasn´t even sure why she was smiling, maybe it was out of relief that she apparently wasn´t going to be kicked out.  
“Sarah? That´s quite the beautiful name.” Katherine said and for the fraction of a moment Sarah thought she might have seen a smile on the other girl´s face. “I assume you know my name by now. Still, I´m Katherine. My second name is Elisabeth though, and right now I´d actually rather go by that name and disappear to a place where nobody could find me,” she couldn´t help but chuckle then. “Or maybe you would,” Katherine then added. “But there´s worse things, don´t you think?”

Truth be told, she had wanted to be alone, to get away from the crowd and the greasy boys with their fake polite smiles, just for a few minutes so she could breathe again and when the knock on the door had interrupted her, Katherine had been annoyed, but she had to admit that Sarah wasn´t annoying at all. Sure, she didn´t know a single thing about the girl besides her name, but the smile on her face right now was genuine, something Katherine hadn´t seen in a while from anyone, and it was nice. It somehow made everything seem less terrible, even if it was just for a moment. She kept her eyes on the girl, and somewhere in the back of her mind a voice was urging her to ask Sarah to take off her mask, but Katherine knew her boundaries, maybe better than anyone, and while she liked to overstep them with her father, and various others, she somehow knew this was something she couldn´t ask for, so she moved towards the window again, picking up a bottle of champagne which she had taken from the great hall. She wasn´t really someone who was very fond of alcohol, she had snuck out a bottle before to try it and it wasn´t really her thing, but it seemed necessary right now.

She poured some into the glass she had brought and then held it out to Sarah before taking a sip from the bottle. Her face scrunched up at the bitter taste, she really couldn´t understand how people could be so crazy about it, before looking back at Sarah, who seemed like she had frozen in place.

“You´re allowed to drink, you know?” Katherine then told her, taking a step closer so it would be easier for the girl to take the glass. “I´m offering, and my father is certainly not going to miss it,” she almost rolled her eyes at that, but refrained from doing so as Sarah took the glass from her, their hands brushing against each other for a split second, causing goose bumps to break out on Katherine´s skin. She wasn´t quite sure what it meant though, or she chose to ignore it, it was a simple reaction of her body after all. She had been on edge the whole evening and it had been a while since anyone had touched her in a way that wasn´t sweaty hands holding onto hers and arms wrapped too tightly around her waist as they had maneuvered her over the floor in an attempt to dance with her.

Meanwhile Sarah was more focused on not letting the glass fall to the floor, because for some reason her hands were shaking all of a sudden. She only ever tasted alcohol once, when her family had celebrated getting a new job and she had been allowed to taste some of the cheap wine they had bought for that special occasion. It hadn´t really tasted that good, and while the champagne was too bitter for her own liking it was probably rather expensive and Sarah didn´t want to waste it, so she drowned the whole glass in one go to get it over with. Unfortunately that sent her into a coughing fit and Katherine couldn´t help but laugh. Still she was with the other girl in a heartbeat, patting her back and holding her upright.

“Easy there,” she then chuckled as soon as Sarah had calmed down a little. “There´s a whole bottle here, and as I said: Nobody is going to miss it,” she shook her head, the smile still on her face.  
Sarah could feel herself blushing then, but thankfully the mask was hiding most of her face, so there was a chance that Katherine hadn´t noticed. Soon enough her glass was refilled though and she didn´t complain, somehow she felt like it wasn´t her place and well, she would be fine if she drank it slowly, right?

 _This is part of your adventure, being at a ball also means tasting the fancy food and champagne that you could never afford,_ the voice in her head reminded her and Sarah took a deep breath before taking another sip, a small one this time, her eyes meeting with Katherine´s, who was still smiling.

“See? It´s as easy as that,” she then chuckled, taking another sip from the bottle. She wasn´t about to get herself completely wasted, because whether she wanted or not, she would have to go back out there soon enough, but a little more couldn´t hurt, could it? Plus, it seemed to be something that kept Sarah around and while Katherine had wanted to be alone before she couldn´t say that the other girl´s company was unpleasant, on the contrary, she rather enjoyed it, if that was a word she could use these days. Still, she knew she couldn´t keep Sarah away for too long, as much as she might have wanted to.

Sarah had to admit that this wasn´t quite what she had expected when she had followed Katherine, but she had also had to admit that it was nice to be here with her, and it was nice to see her smile a smile that wasn´t forced or fake. She took another sip from her glass then, already feeling a little light headed, she hadn´t eaten anything since breakfast, because she had been too nervous and excited, and Sarah had read that you got drunk faster when your stomach was empty, still, it was too late to go back now and there wasn´t too much left in her glass anyway, she would just have to politely decline should Katherine offer her more.

The bottle had been placed back on the window sill though, and Katherine was looking at her again, her facial expression changing once more. “I don´t want to keep you here though, I´m sure you came to dance and enjoy yourself and not to sit around with someone who´s moping around,” she almost let out a sigh, but thought better of it. _You´re not exactly helping your point, Katherine._ She thought, trying to put the smile back in its place. She knew absolutely nothing about the girl in front of her, other than her name and the fact that she apparently wasn´t used to drinking alcohol, and yet Katherine found her to be better company than most people she had met during the last few years. She wasn´t quite sure why that was the case, because it really shouldn´t be, but here she was and the thought of having to go back out there and pretending to be happy and to put on the fake smiles instead of staying right here, where her smile was genuine for some reason, made her stomach twist and she turned to face the window once more, not really wanting to watch Sarah leave, even though there was nothing she could think of saying that would make her stay.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here comes the 'Cinderella Moment' ;)

For a moment Sarah wasn´t quite sure whether that had been Katherine´s subtle way of telling her to leave her alone or a silent plea to make her stay. It wasn´t like she knew the other girl long enough to be able to tell right away, but Sarah had always been known to have a good knowledge of people and a good judge of character, even if she had just met them, and something was telling her that Katherine didn´t want her to go, or that she didn´t want to be alone at least, so she decided to stay. The other girl could still always tell her outright to leave if that´s what she wanted, Katherine surely didn´t seem like someone who would keep her opinion to herself.

“Well I already did dance quite a lot,” Sarah then found herself saying, placing her champagne glass onto the window sill as she moved to stand next to Katherine. “And quite frankly I could use a break from all those boys stepping onto my toes,” she added with a chuckle. Surely, it hadn´t been that bad. Not all of them had stepped onto her toes, but some of them had been rather clumsy and Sarah wasn´t lying when she said that she could use a break for now. The music, the dresses, the laughter, all of that was very nice, but this right here, just standing next to Katherine and looking out of the window, watching the people who were talking and laughing on the porch, it had something even nicer tot it, even though Sarah couldn´t quite tell what it was yet.

“You don´t have to tell me about that,” Katherine then said, shaking her head. She knew better than anyone else what Sarah was talking about. Sure, some of those boys were nice and even great dancers, but most of them were as clumsy as a newborn baby deer trying to walk for the first time and usually it was her who had to dance with them and suffer. “I hope you did have one good dance, because despite my own dislike for these…events, I wouldn´t want you, or anyone else, except a few people maybe, to not enjoy themselves.” Katherine then added as she glanced over at Sarah. For a moment she wondered if the girl was a good dancer. Most girls that attended this ball were taught these things by their fathers, and even Katherine remembered dancing with her father, standing on his feet and swirling around the room, but she had been not older than five maybe, and after her mother´s death she hadn´t really seen him much anymore and everything she knew had been taught to her by other people, teachers he had paid to come to the mansion and eventually Katherine had given up on hoping that her father would be the one teaching her how to dance before her first ball.

“Oh yes, I did. I mean, most of them knew how to dance, it certainly was an experience, yes. Most definitely.” Sarah could tell that she was stumbling over her own words and once again she was blushing under her mask. She didn´t want to seem ungrateful, despite the fact that Katherine didn´t seem like she was happy about this ball that had been organized entirely for her, and she had enjoyed herself, but maybe her expectations to have that perfect moment, that perfect dance, had just been a little too high. That happened when you weren´t used to any of this though, when you had no knowledge of how these balls worked and that all the boys were mostly there to dance with Katherine because they were hoping to be the heir of the best running newspaper in town. 

“Are you sure?” Katherine chuckled, leaning against the window sill and fully looking at Sarah now. She was really just teasing the other girl now, because it came to easy to her. She had always been cheeky, even with strangers, but this was different somehow. She couldn´t tell why, but what she could tell was that Sarah´s company was much nicer than being ogled by a crowd full of boys whose names she had only briefly heard and who were probably more interested in her father´s newspaper than in her. Sarah couldn´t be more interested in the newspaper, of course not, she wasn´t here to marry Katherine, that was completely absurd, though at this point Katherine would have probably preferred her over every single person downstairs.

She thought for a moment longer before reaching out to open the window. Soon enough the voices from the people on the porch were audible and mixing with the music that was coming from the great hall downstairs. Katherine´s lips curled into a smile while Sarah seemed to be visibly confused. She couldn´t quite come up with a reason why Katherine would open the window. It might have been the end of summer and autumn was slowly starting to show its face, but it was still warm outside and if she was looking for some fresh air Sarah was afraid she wouldn´t find it. Still, her lips curled into a smile as she heard the music from downstairs and she leaned against the window sill, as if to get closer to it.

Katherine was smiling too when she noticed how Sarah was leaning towards the window and she moved a little to the side before holding out her hand for the other girl to take. It took Sarah a moment to realize that Katherine had moved and was actually…taking a bow in front of her?

“Uh…” she bit her lip, once again glad that the mask was covering most of her face, because the expression that would have been visible now wouldn´t have been very ladylike or elegant.

“May I have this dance?” Katherine then asked with a smile as her eyes met with Sarah´s. “I feel obliged to show you what a real dance is supposed to be like, and I do know that most of those boys down there dance well, but I have been known to have passion, which is something they mostly lack,” she smirked and Sarah couldn´t even say when she had made the decision to take the other girl´s hand. Maybe her body had acted on its own accord, it really was the only explanation for it, and it seemed like there was no taking it back now, because Katherine had already pulled her closer.

 _It´s just a dance, get yourself together!_ Sarah reminded herself, but for some reason this was different from when she had danced with all those boys earlier. It had been nice, surely, but she hadn´t been able to feel her heart pounding like this before. It hadn´t even been as bad when she had snuck into the mansion and been afraid to get caught. It felt the same to some extent, but at the same time it felt completely different and Sarah couldn’t explain it. Still she found herself smiling as Katherine´s arm wrapped around her waist and they were moving around the room to the beat of the music that was coming from downstairs. It was different from dancing in a ball room full of people where you simultaneously had to make sure not to bump into someone and to keep your own feet from being squished. This was…nice. It was more freely, because they had all the space they needed to move and Sarah was impressed that Katherine hadn´t stepped onto her toes yet and vice versa. It wasn´t like she was a very clumsy person, but somehow she felt that she could step onto the other´s toes any time now that she wasn´t busy trying to keep the same thing happening to her own feet. Soon enough she felt safer though, because nothing bad was happening, it was just the two of them dancing, Katherine spinning her around and eventually Sarah couldn´t help but let out a slight chuckle. This was not what she had expected when she had made the plan to sneak into the ball, not at all. Still it was nice and she figured that this might actually be the real adventure, and that was what she had been looking for, right?

Katherine had honestly not planned for any of this to happen. She had expected to spend another dreadful evening of her father presenting her to potential husbands and now here she was, feeling herself enjoying dancing for the first time in what felt forever. Maybe it was because she knew she didn´t have to dance with Sarah, she had been the one to ask her for a dance because she actually wanted to, and it seemed like the other girl was enjoying herself as well. Katherine had learned to tell a genuine smile from a fake one rather early on and Sarah´s had always been genuine ever since she had walked into the room. It was nice to see a genuine smile once in a while, usually she was only ever faced with on when she was with Darcy, but even at those balls he had to force a smile because he was just as uncomfortable as Katherine herself was.

Sarah couldn´t quite keep the smile off her face as they moved around the room. The world seemed to fall away and she began to wonder if this was what she had always read about in her books, when nothing else mattered but the moment you were sharing with a special person, or a person who suddenly became special to you in that very moment. It felt like nothing else mattered but Katherine and their dance in that moment and it seemed like they wouldn´t even need the music, as if the beating of both their hearts was more than enough to keep them going and to never miss a step.

Dancing had never felt like this before. It had always felt like an obligation to Katherine, something she had to do in order to please her father, and while she couldn´t say that she had never enjoyed herself before she had never felt like this. Like she was actually floating through the room, spinning Sarah around again and again because it drew that beautiful laugh from the other girl´s lips that Katherine couldn´t seem to get enough of. Of course she had considered the alcohol to be a reason for the sudden change in how she felt, but then again she hadn´t taken more than a few sips and Sarah had spit out half her glass. Of course it could have been used as an excuse, but Katherine didn´t want an excuse, she wanted to finally enjoy herself and not worry about the reasons or what was to come once the music eventually ended. Her eyes were locked with Sarah´s and Katherine had never quite seen such beautiful eyes. They were of a dark brown and yet they seemed to sparkle in some way, drawing Katherine in and making her want to do nothing more than to lose herself even more in them. It felt like she could sink into those eyes and forget about the rest of the world, even if it was just for a while.

Meanwhile Sarah couldn´t even tell how much time had passed and how long they had spent dancing, but all she knew was that she still didn´t want it to stop.  It was the ringing of the antique clock on the mantelpiece that brought her back to reality though and for a moment she stopped, her eyes finding the clock. It took Sarah a while until she realized just how late it was and once again the world seemed to stop, but this time it wasn´t in a good way.

“Oh no…” she muttered, a slight panic rising up in her chest. “I…I have to go…” her eyes met with Katherine´s for a short moment and everything in her was screaming at her not to go, but Sarah couldn´t possibly be late. She couldn´t risk her parents finding out where she had been and there was no way to tell Davey to keep them out any longer. She somehow managed to tear her eyes away from Katherine, even though she could feel her stomach being in knots already, and pushed past her towards the door, she had to reach the carriage in time, there was no other way than running.

It took Katherine a moment to realize what was happening before she managed to turn around and follow Sarah. Why was she suddenly running? The ball wasn´t over yet and she hadn´t done anything, wrong, had she? Sometimes she didn´t realize that she was doing something that might have not been appropriate, or when she did Katherine didn´t care, but with Sarah it was different.

“Sarah, wait!” she called, but the girl didn´t even turn to look over her shoulder so Katherine had no other choice than to keep following her.

Sarah was doing her best not to fall over her dress as she stumbled down the stairs. She was fighting the urge to look back at Katherine, who was obviously coming after her. Her heart was beating faster at the thought, but she also knew that she couldn´t look, or stop, for even a second. Her sight was limited through the mask anyway and if she took her eyes away from what was right in front of her Sarah feared that she would stumble and fall and that was something she really couldn´t afford. She somehow managed to make her way through the crowd and towards the front entrance where another flight of stairs was waiting for her. It wasn´t really helping that it was already dark outside, which was limiting her sight even more. It took Sarah about two seconds to make the decision to take her mask off. The chances of anyone seeing her face out here in the dark when everyone was still inside enjoying themselves were slim, so she pulled the mask from her face while she ran down the stairs, trying not to fall.

She had almost reached the bottom though when Sarah missed a step though and had to use her arms to somehow keep her balance. She managed to hold back the scream that was threatening to tumble from her lips, but while trying to keep herself upright the mask had slipped from her hands and fallen to the ground. Sarah wanted to stop and pick it up, because the boys must have paid a fortune for it, but before she was even faced with the decision whether or not to stop she heard the doors burst open behind her and she could tell that it was Katherine without even looking back.

Sarah couldn´t stop, not if she wanted to leave without being seen for who she really was, so she decided to leave the mask where it was to run for the carriage as quickly as possible instead.

Meanwhile Katherine had already reached the stairs, her lungs burning and her feet aching from running in those impossibly high shoes, but she didn´t care. All she cared about was catching Sarah before she was gone. She saw the mask fall to the ground then and she was almost at the bottom of the stairs when the sharp voice of her father cut through the night and had her frozen on the spot.

“Katherine Elizabeth Pulitzer! What on earth do you think you´re doing?” he asked, sounding rather angry. “You get back in her right now or so God help me!”

Katherine knew that she would follow his orders soon enough, that she would go back inside and put on that smile she knew all too well and dance with whomever her father would choose for her, but for now she was staring into the darkness, her heart still beating faster in her chest.

Still, Sarah was gone, having left nothing but her mask at Katherine´s feet.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo I don´t know if anyone is still reading this, but I´m going to finish it. I promise. Sorry for the long wait! x

Sarah wasn´t even quite sure how she had made it home in time, but she would forever be thankful to David for keeping her parents out of the apartment for so long. She had managed to hide the dress under the bed and quickly crawled under the covers before her parents had made it home. Surely, Sarah was old enough, so technically there was no need to check up on her, but she knew her mother would come and take a look anyways, simply because she worried so much about her children. Sarah knew she had been right when a minute later she heard the sound of footsteps outside and her door was opened. She kept her eyes closed, pretending to be asleep, and as soon as Esther had seen her daughter in her bed she retreated, closing the door again.

Once she was gone Sarah opened her eyes, staring at the ceiling. She could still hear the music from the ball playing in her head, mixed with Katherine´s laughter. There was something about the other girl, something Sarah couldn´t quite put her finger on. Maybe it was because she had finally been able to see the real Katherine Pulitzer, not the one who was always talked about in the newspaper. Suddenly this figure from the papers had become a real person, a wonderful one, and she was completely different from how Sarah had imagined her to be. Sadly she knew that she wouldn´t be able to see her again. The people they surrounded themselves with were completely different, and even if Katherine would have wanted to, Sarah wasn´t someone she could invite to her house.

She suppressed a sigh as she turned onto her side, closing her eyes in an attempt to sleep. She would have to be up early for work at the theatre and even though she knew that there was no way she would be able to forget about this Sarah would just have to live with the fact that this had been a one-time thing. A beautiful night she would be able to remember and cherish forever, along with Katherine, but that had to be it.

-

The rest of the night had been a blur to Katherine, mostly because she really didn´t want to remember the horde of boys stepping onto her feet while they danced. She could tell that her father wasn´t happy with how things had gone and she would have very much liked to tell him that she wasn´t happy either, but even Katherine knew when to keep her mouth shut. She had fallen asleep in her dress that night, not even bothering to change.

She had sent all the servants away and told them not to wake her before her father had left the house for the day. She really wasn´t in the mood for breakfast with him, not that he talked much anyway, but still. It was later than she usually got up though, so Katherine had already been awake when the knock on the door came. “I´ll be fine, just serve me some breakfast downstairs, thank you!” she called as she sat up, eyes falling onto the mask that was resting on her beside table. It was the mask Sarah had lost while running away from her last night.

This all still seemed way too surreal to have actually happened, and if it hadn´t been for the mask Katherine would have been convinced that she had made it all up simply to escape the boring ball and the boys stepping onto her feet. The mask was there though and she could feel her throat still being a little dry from the champagne and of course Katherine could never forget those eyes. Eyes that sparkled like she had never seen them before when they had danced around the room and she couldn´t help the warm feeling that spread across her chest when she thought back on the hour she had spent with Sarah.

Katherine was well aware that her father would never allow her to be friends with someone who wasn´t of their class or lived up to their standards, but she had never cared about these kind of things. Marriage and friendship shouldn´t be based on class or standards, when you got along with someone or fell in love then the only thing that mattered should be just that and not whether or not they would be able to afford a holiday home or champagne every night. Her father didn´t understand these things, or maybe he had a long time ago, because he had loved her mother, Katherine knew that, but these days he barely even talked to her, so who knew.

Still, Katherine wasn´t about to let her father stop her. She had to find Sarah, even if it was only to thank her for saving her from going completely insane that night, and she was a journalist after all, she should be able to do some research and find out who this Sarah was and where she lived. Surely, New York was a big city, but the mask was a hint and there were probably other things she remembered from last night which Katherine could use to figure out this riddle. She would find Sarah, wherever she was.

-

Three days had passed since the ball and Sarah simply couldn´t shake the gloomy mood she had been in ever since. She hated that she wasn´t able to smile and joke around with everyone as usual, especially because Sarah was usually the person who always managed to keep the mood light and cheer everyone up. It was weird that she had hidden herself away during lunch breaks rather than to come and share it with everyone from the theatre or the boys. She didn´t want it to be that way, but Sarah found herself drifting off into thoughts of Katherine and the ball and she figured that sitting there, surrounded by friends, and not even paying attention to them was rude, so she chose to stay back at the theatre for lunch.

It wasn´t until today that her brother had decided to come and pay her a visit though and Sarah should have seen it coming, because David knew her better than anyone after all. It worked the same way for her, she could immediately tell when he was upset or when something was bugging him, so she really shouldn´t have been surprised to find him leaning against the door frame of her work place during lunch break.

“The boys miss you, you know?” he said with a slight smile and Sarah looked up, biting her lip. “They are a little bit disappointed that you didn´t come back to tell them about your ball. They´ve made quite an effort for you,” he then continued, moving into the room and eventually pulling up a chair to sit next to her. “So…how was the ball?”

Sarah bit back a sigh as she put down her sandwich (Medda had left it for her) and briefly glanced over at the dress she had worn and which was now here, because this was the perfect place to hide it from her parents and anyone else who could have asked any questions. “It was…nice,” she then found herself saying, not even quite sure how to explain what had happened. She knew that she could trust Davey, and that he would never say a word to anyone, and yet Sarah couldn´t quite bring herself to tell him about Katherine. She wasn´t even sure why, maybe telling someone that she really had no chance of ever actually seeing that girl again, that Katherine knew nothing but Sarah´s name, would make it real, and Sarah figured that she simply wasn´t ready for that. “I just…I didn´t come to see the boys because I lost the mask you gave me while I was running to make it back home in time. And I felt bad…because you probably spent a lot of money on it,” she nodded, looking up at David. Sarah was a much better liar than her brother, and yet she knew that he could tell that she wasn´t telling the truth, at least not completely.

 Ever since he was spending time with the Newsies David had picked up some skills on how to handle emotional and these kind of situations, because he simply nodded and didn´t poke around for the real reason, which Sarah was rather thankful for.

“Well. I´m sure they won´t be upset as long as you tell them some stories about the ball. Especially how stuck up Pulitzer must have looked,” he let out a small chuckle, shaking his head. “Just promise you´ll be back to meet us for lunch tomorrow?” David then added and well, how could Sarah say no to that?

-

Katherine hadn´t exactly made any progress in her research so far. There were simply too many Sarah´s in the phone books, she hadn´t even gone through them all, and she assumed that the girl still lived with her parents, so she probably wouldn´t be in there anyway. The mask Sarah had left wasn´t as expensive and of good quality as the ones all the other women at the ball had worn, so she hadn´t even been able to go to all the stores and ask if someone remembered who had bought the mask. She was stuck and it was more than a little annoying. On top of everything Katherine had also been sent to review some show at one of the theatres in town. It wasn´t like she minded seeing those shows, some of them were even great, but she knew that she could write articles on more meaningful things, and she had more important things to do. Still she knew that it was at the courtesy of her father that she was able to write at all and she couldn´t turn down these offers, even if she wanted to.

She sighed as she quickly checked her hair and dress in the mirror before gathering her things and heading for the door. Katherine then stopped for a moment and looked back before quickly returning to her drawer and pulling out the mask to let it slip into her bag. She had carried it around with her for the past few days, just in case she would stumble on someone she thought could be Sarah. She knew that the chances were slim, but it was better to be safe than sorry, right?

“Right,” she muttered to herself before heading off so she would make it to the theatre in time.

-

Something about today was different. Usually the nights at the theatre went down rather quietly. Everyone was busy running their lines or warming up and Sarah moved around from person to person to check that they were all in their right costumes. Today things were rather chaotic though. Thankfully she was a rather calm person and was able to keep her head above the water, trying to keep everyone there with her. Sarah somehow didn´t even manage to panic when one of the lead singers came running towards her, waving her arms up in the air and shrieking something about her dress being torn.

Sarah couldn´t even tell how she had managed to tear the dress there, and why the tear was so big, but she knew that it was too big to fix it before the show would start. She managed to calm the girl down a little (that shrieking had stopped at least, thank God) and found herself thinking about an alternative. The only dress that came close to this one was the one she had worn at the ball not three nights ago and while Sarah knew that she would have to explain to Medda where that dress had suddenly come from she found that much easier than to explain why they were short on a dress.

Still, she didn´t like the idea of someone else wearing a dress in which she had spent the most joyful hours of her life and in which she had danced with the most beautiful girl she had ever seen. Not that Sarah could ever tell anyone about that, and the show had to go on, so she simply smiled and led the girl towards the costume department to help her into the dress.

-

The show wasn´t bad, really. It was actually rather good and Katherine figured that she could have had it worse. She was scribbling down notes every now and then, already sketching out the review in her head. It wasn´t until the big solo, which wasn´t sung by Miss Medda herself tonight, was announced, that Katherine looked up. She had read about it before in the program, but she couldn´t remember the name of the person who was singing and before she was able to look for the program in her bag the lights changed and the girl moved into the center of the stage.

It took Katherine a moment to take everything in, but soon enough she recognized the dress the girl was wearing and it felt like her heart stopped beating for a second before suddenly going even faster than before.

“Sarah.”


	6. Chapter 6

The moment Katherine had seen the girl in Sarah´s dress on stage her heart began beating faster in her chest. Of course, it only made sense that the dress was from a theatre, especially since she knew Sarah wasn´t someone from a higher class and therefore not someone who could afford an expensive dress, unless it was a costume she was wearing in a show. The girl´s voice, which was filling the theatre now, was beautiful and Katherine should have thought about this sooner. She was mentally kicking herself a little for not immediately thinking about the dress being from a theatre. Sure, there might have been a lot of theatres, this was New York after all, but it would have at least been a hint and would have given her a direction to go into.

It didn´t matter anymore though, not when she had finally found Sarah. As a reporter, Katherine was used to do her research and to press onto a matter until she finally got what she wanted, but it seemed like that didn´t quite work when it came to things that weren´t stories. It had was only when she hadn´t been looking that she had found Sarah.

She was already on the edge of her seat, coming up with a plan on how to get backstage so she could talk to Sarah. She was a reporter, and reporters got to go behind the scenes, right? She would just have to convince whoever was in charge here that she was going to do a big feature on the show, that was something that usually always got the these theatre people excited and voila, Katherine would be able to go inside and see Sarah. Of course there was always the possibility of waiting for her outside, but there was a chance of missing her and the people backstage knew Sarah, so they would be able to point Katherine into the direction of her dressing room.

Her heart was still beating faster and she could feel a certain electricity running through her body as she waited for the solo to be over. She might have had her own booth, but Katherine still didn´t want to disturb anyone watching the show. She had been raised properly after all, despite her rebellious ways, and she had been waiting for days, she´d be fine waiting another ten minutes, right?

-

Sarah was glad that nobody seemed to have noticed the costume change, or if they had they didn´t mind. Truth be told, the dress wasn´t too different from the actual one, at least not when it came to the design, and while she didn´t like the thought of someone else wearing the dress in which she had spent the most amazing night of her life, she knew that the show had to go on and Medda would appreciate her quick, improvised decision, though Sarah would probably have to explain where that dress had come from all of a sudden.

There were worse things though, or so Sarah figured, so she watched the performance from the wings, a small smile on her face as her thoughts drifted back to the ball. She had felt like the most beautiful girl in that dress, and not because all of the boys had wanted to dance with her, no, she had felt that way because of Katherine and the way the other girl had looked at her. Sarah knew that these feelings weren´t something that would be understood by many people, or anyone really, but they were there and she knew that they wouldn´t fade for a long time.

It wasn´t like she would ever be able to see Katherine again, not the way they had seen each other that night, and that the other girl would end up marrying a wealthy man who then could take over her father´s newspaper, but still Sarah knew that the feelings she had were real and there was nothing she could do about them. They were what her mother had always talked about when she had told Sarah bed time stories about princes and girls who fell in love with each other, who would do anything to be with the one they loved. Her life was no fairy tale though, by far not, but that couldn´t change just how she felt about Katherine.

-

Once Sarah´s solo was done and the grand finale began Katherine quietly left her booth and made her way to where she assumed the backstage entrance was. It was a relatively small theatre compared to the ones she had been in already, but that would only work in her favour. She waited until she could hear the audience cheering and then knocked on the door.

A few seconds passed until it was opened and a rather confused looking guy stood before her. _Perfect,_ Katherine thought as she put on one of her most charming smiles, looking back at him. “Good evening, my dear sir. My name is Katherine Plumber and I am covering this show for the New York Sun. It would be more than helpful if I got an insight on the show and maybe even an interview with one or two of the girls in the show. Preferably the lead actress, who did a splendid job by the way. Would you be able to help me with that?”  
It was obvious that he had probably only understood about half of the things Katherine had said, but he seemed to be rather impressed by how official and wealthy she looked, those clothes had to be good for something after all, and he probably also didn´t want to seem stupid, so he simply nodded, trying to give her his best smile. “ ‘Course Miss, this way.” He pointed behind himself and Katherine returned his smile with even more enthusiasm as she moved past him, letting the door fall shut.

_First obstacle overcome._ Now she only had to find Sarah and talk to her. It only occurred to Katherine now, as she was making her way through the corridors and moved in between the people who were carrying props and costumes around, that she had no idea what she would say. Did Sarah even want to see her again? Why had she run away in the first place? Maybe she had gotten freaked out by the instant connection between them and maybe Katherine was a little bit freaked out as well. Not because she thought she wouldn´t be able to handle this, and her feelings, but simply because she had never met a girl, or a boy, quite like Sarah. Someone who had managed to make her laugh even when laughing had been the last thing on Katherine´s mind and who had captured her with nothing but those beautiful, hazel eyes of hers.

Katherine was momentarily distracted by all those memories from that night flooding her mind so she stopped in her tracks, looking around. She couldn´t just run around backstage like a headless chicken. That would attract everyone´s attention and maybe someone would notice that she wasn´t actually here to interview someone about the show. She would simply have to ask someone to point out Sarah´s dressing room and then she´d be able to find her. That was definitely the most efficient way and the most efficient way was always the way to go.

Katherine looked around for a moment, trying to make out someone in this crowd of people that looked like they knew their way around. It wasn´t until a girl passed her by, who obviously knew where she was going, that Katherine reached out to stop her.

-

Sarah had been on her way back to the room where they stored all of their costumes so she could put them all back into their places when they would be handed to her, when she suddenly felt a hand on her arm. She stopped and swirled around midway, about to ask what was going on, when she realized that the hand who had stopped her belonged to Katherine. For a moment it seemed like the world stood still as Sarah looked back at the other girl, trying to make up her mind whether Katherine was really there or if she was imagining this. The hand on her arm felt very real though and Sarah blinked a few times before she reminded herself that she needed to breathe.

How had the other girl found her? She couldn´t remember having said anything that would be traceable and lead back to this theatre, but then again Katherine was a news reporter, these people had their way of finding things out, didn´t they? Sarah´s heart was beating hard against her ribcage and her lips curled into a smile. She had already opened her mouth to say something then, maybe to ask how Katherine had found her, but the other girl was faster.

“Excuse me, I´m looking for the girl who sang the solo tonight? The one in the beautiful dress? My name is Katherine Plumber and I´m here to do a story on this brilliant show, I´d love an interview with the lead actress.” The smile Sarah was met with was polite and obviously fake, a smile that she remembered all too well, because Katherine had worn it the night when she had descended down the stairs, forced to dance with every boy there was. It wasn´t the smile she had seen on the other´s face when they had danced with each other or the one she had witnessed when she had almost choked on the champagne.

_The one in the beautiful dress._

And then it dawned on Sarah. Katherine wasn´t here because of her. Or maybe she thought she was, but Sarah was standing right there and it was obvious that Katherine didn´t recognize her. The smile froze in its place and Sarah glanced down on herself for a moment. Of course. She wasn´t wearing a beautiful dress, her hair wasn´t styled properly and she was not wearing a fancy mask, she was just plain old Sarah, the girl who had always known that she would never be enough for someone like Katherine.

She wanted to say something, tell the other girl the truth, but what good would it do? Katherine was expecting a beautiful actress to be her mysterious girl from the ball, not the costume girl, and really, how could Sarah have thought, even for a moment, that Katherine would recognise her looking like this? So before she was even able to find her words to say something, anything at all, Katherine seemed to have spotted someone behind her, because she let go off Sarah´s arm and a simple “Thank you, I think I´ve found her,” was said before Katherine pushed past her.

For a moment Sarah simply stood there and she felt foolish, because suddenly there were tears rising up in her eyes and God she wished the other girl would have never come looking for her. That way Sarah could have pretended that Katherine might have looked for her, but that she had simply never found her. That fate hadn´t wanted them to meet again, but this way…this way she was left standing in the corridor backstage, tears blurring her vision, feeling her heart breaking into pieces.

It wasn´t until the third person had almost run into her that she eventually managed to move. She pulled one of the technicians aside, trying her best not to look too wrecked, or to let any tears fall as she spoke. “If you see Medda, can you tell her I had to leave early? It´s important, I promise to be here early tomorrow to finish everything up.” Sarah didn´t even wait for an answer before she pushed past the man, trying to get out of the theatre as quickly as possible.

-

When Katherine approached Sarah, she had spotted her in the crowd, the dress almost impossible not to notice, her smile got a little brighter and she tapped the other girl´s shoulder, waiting for her to turn around. “Hey,” she smiled, but the only thing she got in return was a raised eyebrow.

“Yes? Can I help you? But be quick I have to get out of this dress. It´s really not entirely my size and while it saved the show I´d rather be in my own clothes,” the girl rolled her eyes and looked back at Katherine, who seemed to be a little taken aback.

“I´m…sorry?” she then asked, looking back at the girl.

“I said…wait, who even are you? Look, if you´re some weird fan who snuck past the guy at the door, who´s an idiot by the way, dumbest person I´ve ever met, the I´m sorry but I´m not signing anything now, you´ll have to wait outside,”

Katherine suddenly felt stupid. This was Sarah´s dress, there was no doubt about it, she would recognize it anywhere, but this girl, the one in front of her, was most definitely not the lovely girl she had spent an hour dancing with. It wasn´t Sarah´s voice, or her eyes, there was nothing but annoyance and arrogance in this girl´s eyes and nothing of the warmth that had caught Katherine´s attention the moment Sarah had entered the room that night.

“I´m…sorry.” Was all she eventually said, not even bothering to explain herself as she turned away from the girl, who had simply let out a huff before disappearing into the crowd of people hustling around backstage.

Katherine quickly rounded the next corner and leaned against the wall then, away from everyone´s eyes, and it was then that she realized that she was back at the beginning and that thought alone had her stomach twisting.

How was she ever going to find Sarah?


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, this took forever, due to me being involved in three plays and injuring my finger (typing is still a bitch) but here´s another chapter! I hope you´re still around and enjoying the story! x

Sarah wasn´t quite sure how she had made it to the Lodging House without being run over by someone, but apparently fate had been kind to her when it came to that. The rest of her life? Well. Not so much. Tears were still blurring her vision as she stumbled through the doors, the sadness and hurt threatening to overwhelm her. Fortunately Sarah had somehow managed to think of coming here instead of going home, because explaining to her parents that she had snuck out of the house and into a ball which she hadn´t been invited to and basically fallen in love with a girl who had made her feel like the most beautiful girl in the world and who now hadn´t even recognised her without all the fancy clothes and hairdo, hadn´t seemed like such a good idea. The boys knew where she had been at least and even if most of them would threaten to beat up whomever had made her cry it would still be easier to explain to them that she was going to be fine than to her parents, and the chances of running into Davey, the only person whom she could talk to, where probably higher, since he usually hung out with Jack and the boys if he wasn´t studying.

She was just about to stumble up the stairs when Spot appeared at the top and judging by the slightly terrified tone in his voice when he called for Davey it seemed as if he had noticed her crying. Sarah felt incredibly stupid for freaking out this way, it wasn´t as if she had expected to ever see Katherine again, or for the other girl to recognise her, but apparently there had been a small part of her that had wished for this fairytale to last longer than the night they had met. That somehow she wouldn´t only get her fairytale moment, but also her fairytale ending.

It sounded incredibly stupid now, she couldn´t deny that. It was the dream every little girl had, to be swept off her feet and to become a princess, even if it was only for one night, but Sarah wasn´t a little girl anymore, she was old enough to know better.

It was Davey who pulled her out of her paralysed state eventually, arms wrapping around her as they stood on the steps still. “Sarah! What´s wrong?” There were so many things she wanted to say, things she needed to explain, but the moment she opened her mouth nothing came out but a sob that caused Sarah to bury her face in her brother´s shoulder as she started crying once more.

-

Katherine was back to the beginning and she absolutely hated it. How could she not have seen that the girl in the dress hadn´t been Sarah? She might have not been a trained journalist, but she was very good at what she did and she shouldn´t have let herself be blinded by trivialities like the dress. It was, without any doubt, the dress Sarah had worn to the ball, but the girl wearing it here hadn´t been Sarah. So far for the obvious facts. Fortunately Katherine had been able to get a closer look at the dress, not only at the ball but also here during her brief conversation with the actress who had worn it. It was a very unique dress, definitely not something you could buy just anywhere and Katherine assumed that there wasn´t another one who looked exactly the same, which meant that Sarah had to work somewhere in this theatre, unless she had somehow managed to break into the theatre, steal the dress and get it back inside without anybody noticing, and while the guy by the backstage door really wasn´t the brightest Katherine assumed that it was far more likely that Sarah worked here.

A voice pulled her from her thoughts then and Katherine turned around to find a woman, dressed very nicely in a colourful dress and a complicated hairdo, smiling at her. It almost seemed like a costume, even though she was sure the woman hadn´t been in the show, but the dress fit her overall appearance. Katherine had, of course, done her research and was aware that she was faced with the theatre´s owner, Medda Larkin. She was quick to throw on a professional smile, pulling out her notepad and a pen. She had pretended to be here to get some information about the show after all and well she had to write that article anyways, even if that wasn´t the reason she had wanted to go backstage.

“Miss Pulitzer,” Medda smiled, nodding over to the side so they wouldn´t be in the way of the people who were running around and cleaning everything up. “I heard you were here to review the show, clever to get yourself backstage, but I haven´t expected anything less from you. I´ve always loved reading your reviews and I´m honoured to have you here. I hope you´ve enjoyed the show?”

Katherine was quick to nod, the smile still on her face. She really had enjoyed the show, though she had to admit that she had been a little distracted from the moment she had spotted Sarah or well, the person whom she had thought to be Sarah.  “Oh, I did. It was wonderful. I´m sure you´ll be having even more guests when my article is published tomorrow.” The moment the words were out an idea formed itself in Katherine´s head and she looked back at Medda, offering her another smile. “The costumes were beautifully done, especially the dress worn by the lead actress. Would you happen to be able to tell me more about that?”

It was a leap of faith, at best, but Katherine assumed that Medda had to know what was going on in her own theatre and if Sarah worked here she would have to know her. Of course she couldn´t come right out and ask about the other girl, or her cover would be blown, but maybe she could weasel her way through to the information she needed.

Meanwhile Medda seemed to ponder on the question for a little while, her smile never wavering though, before she nodded. “Well if you really want to know more about the dresses, and…that one dress in particular, then you should talk to Sarah, she´s responsible for the costumes.”

The moment Medda mentioned the name of who was in charge of costumes, Katherine knew. Of course Sarah was a very common name, but her gut was telling her that this was the girl she was looking for, and as a journalist she had learned to trust her gut. It only made sense that Sarah would have made a dress for herself, Katherine remembered the other girl telling her how special this night was for her and the dress had been part of that, and it wasn´t a surprise that Sarah had made it for herself. She could have pretended it was for the theatre, which was where they had ended up using it, and nobody would have wondered why she was making such an extraordinary dress.

“What a clever girl…” Katherine mumbled to herself, Medda almost forgotten for a moment. It wasn´t until the older woman spoke up that Katherine realized she must have drifted off a little.

“Anything else I could help you with?” Medda was asking and Katherine snapped back into reality, wondering if she was bold enough to risk her cover by asking the next question.

“Actually…yes.” It was now or never. It seemed physically impossible for her to wait any longer to find Sarah, her whole body was tingling with anticipation and she wished the other girl would have been here. “I really need to get this article done for tomorrow, would it be possible to know where this Sarah can be found? I´d love to get her input for the article,”

Katherine´s heart was beating hard against her ribcage, even though she was trying her best not to let it show on the outside. If Medda noticed that she was nervous she might have put two and two together and wouldn´t let her know where Sarah was.

It seemed as if her cover wouldn´t be blown today though, whether it was because Medda noticed that something important was going on here, or because she was so enthusiastic about the show and the article, Katherine didn´t know, but she had to admit that she didn´t really care either.

“Well I don´t know if you should pester her at home, but you could try the Lodging House. Sometimes she hangs out with the newsboys, if you´re lucky she went there to pick up her brothers after tonight´s show.” Medda offered Katherine a smile. “I´ll write down the address for you, dear.”

-

It took Katherine a while to find her way around and to what Medda had called ‘The Lodging House’, of course she had heard about these institutions before, but she had never really been to these parts of town, at least not long enough to know her way around. After asking a few people, who had passed her by, Katherine had found the address she had been looking for. For a moment she just stood there, looking at the tall building in front of her. She wondered if Sarah was really here, or if she had come all the way for nothing, but even if the girl wasn´t here maybe there was someone who would be able to give Katherine the other girl´s address.

Everyone else would have probably been wary about trying to get someone´s home address, or to even try, from strangers, especially being a stranger themselves, but Katherine wanted to be a reporter and that meant she would have to push through and get information nobody else was able to get. She had to be straight forward if she wanted to see Sarah again and right now there was nothing in this world she wanted more.

She could feel her heart beating faster in her chest at the simple thought of seeing Sarah again, the girl who had made the worst night of her life bearable. No, she had actually turned it into the best night Katherine´s ever had, at least for that one hour they had spent together. Without even realizing it Katherine had started to walk towards the house slowly, heart still beating hard against her ribcage. She had never felt this way about anyone or anything. She had always buried herself in school work or in writing articles instead of chasing after boys, probably because all the ones her father had introduced to her might have been handsome but also either rude or completely stupid. They had relied on their titles or their money, two things Katherine couldn´t care less about. Of course she couldn´t deny the fact that she´s had a nice life, and that she enjoyed not having to worry about turning every penny twice, but she would have given it all up in a heartbeat for freedom.

Or for Sarah.

Katherine bit her lip as she carefully pushed the door open and peered inside. The small corridor was empty apart from an older man who was sitting behind what Katherine made out to be a counter. He was reading today´s newspaper, and had almost completely disappeared behind it, and didn´t even look up when she slipped into the corridor. She assumed that there were lots of people walking in and out here on a daily basis and that, if he looked up whenever he heard the door, he´d probably end up with a cricked neck.

She decided to leave him be, she´d find her way around eventually, and well if anything at all this meant that she had one less problem to work around. It was obvious that she didn´t belong here, with her fancy dress and her elegant hairdo, and Katherine didn´t really have the time to explain her whole situation to him.

She quickly passed the man and made her way towards the stairs which were located in the back. They were old and creaked the moment she took the first step onto them. Katherine turned her head to see whether or not the man behind his newspaper had looked up, but it didn´t seem like he had even moved.

The repeated creaking of the stairs had Katherine shift her attention back to them and she frowned. She hadn´t moved at all, so why…? She turned her head once more, this time facing the top of the stairs, and was suddenly confronted with a familiar face.

The girl who had taken a few steps down the stairs was frozen on the spot, her eyes wide in shock. Katherine must have looked just the same, because for a moment they both just stood there, looking at the other.

“ _Sarah_.”

It was obvious who the other girl was and the thought of always recognizing these beautiful eyes, despite the shocked expression, formed in her mind, but the moment the thought was complete another one entered her head. The dress. The hair. The shoes. She had run into Sarah before, less than two hours ago, and she had left her standing on the spot because she had been looking for the dress.

All of a sudden Katherine felt her heart drop from her chest to her knees and her stomach was beginning to tie up knots. She hadn´t meant to leave Sarah standing like that. She hadn´t even recognized Sarah in her hurry to find _her,_ which might have been the most ironic thing she had ever heard of.

Katherine had already opened her mouth to say something, to apologize, but before she was able to so much as utter the first word Sarah had pushed past her and was running towards the exit.

“Sarah!” Katherine called as she turned, but the only thing she saw was the door falling shut.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well hello. I have to apologize for the lack of updates, but sometimes I can be the worst when it comes to finishing stories! Life has been pretty hectic with me graduating and moving, but I´ve finally managed to bring this wonderful story to an end. I do like how it turned out in the end and I hope you do too! <3

Stupid, that´s how Katherine felt. Completely and utterly stupid. She had found Sarah and just left her standing simply because she hadn´t looked the way she had imagined her to. In her head the other girl had still looked like she had when they met at the ball and the thought of Sarah not being part of the upper class hadn´t even entered the writer´s head.  
“Sarah, wait!” she found herself calling as she turned on her heels and followed the other girl outside. It was obvious that Sarah didn´t want to talk to her, otherwise she wouldn´t have bolted for the door, but Katherine couldn´t let her get away again. “Sarah, please!”

The dress she was wearing wasn´t really cut out for a chase through the streets, and Katherine was surprised that she didn´t trip over her own feet to fall flat on her face, but she eventually managed to get a hold of Sarah, turning her around to face Katherine. Part of her wished she hadn´t though, because now she could see why Sarah had probably not been running as fast, her eyes were filled with tears, clouding her sight.

Katherine felt a lump in her throat and suddenly she wasn´t sure what to say. She had prepared some sort of speech in her head, but it had gone to waste the moment she had realized that she had left Sarah standing, and probably feeling worthless, at the theatre. It hadn´t been Katherine´s intention though, and she wanted to tell the other girl just that, but she wasn´t sure whether or not that would make a difference.

“What do you want?” Sarah´s voice was shaky as she refused to wipe away the tears in her eyes, as if that would acknowledge that she was crying in the first place. She hadn´t been prepared to face Katherine again, especially not so soon after having her heart broken. It sounded strange, to call it that, but that´s how it felt. Not that Sarah´s ever had her heart broken, but she had read about it, and this shattering feeling, the way your chest started to hurt and how the world suddenly seemed to lack color? That´s how she had felt when Katherine had left her standing at the theatre.  
It was stupid, really, because she shouldn´t have expected anything from the other girl in the first place. Katherine was way out of her league, and they wouldn´t have a chance in hell to be together, but Sarah had let herself dream and then she had fallen right out of the clouds and crashed onto the concrete.

“Sarah, I´m sorry.” Katherine eventually managed and it sounded like the lamest thing she had ever said. She was a great writer, she was good with words, even if her father didn´t want to acknowledge it, but right now she seemed to be at a loss for words.

“Look…I´ve got to go home,” Sarah muttered and it was obvious that she was lying. Her parents were aware that she worked late at the theatre and that she always came home much later than everyone else. Her parents didn´t worry about her, simply because Sarah was no one you worried about. Not because they didn´t care, but because she was a good girl and she was always careful.

“Please.” Katherine found herself saying as she finally let go off the other girl´s arm. She didn´t want to force Sarah to stay, but she also didn´t want her to go. She took a deep breath as she felt tears rising up in her own eyes. “Please, don´t go.” The words were hard to say, not because she didn´t mean them, but because saying them out loud meant that she was admitting to her vulnerability.

Katherine had always put on a brave face, back when her mother had died, when her father had told her she couldn´t write articles and should stick to reviews and when he had told her she´d have to find someone to marry. Right now, however, she couldn´t keep that brave face up, not when she was faced with Sarah. It almost seemed as if the other girl could see through her mask with no effort and while that was terrifying it was also comforting in a way. It told Katherine that she had been right to go looking for her, that what she had felt at the ball hadn´t been a fleeting feeling that would pass and eventually be nothing but a distant memory.

“I know I was being stupid.” She finally found herself muttering before clearing her throat. “I should have recognized you, because you´re special, Sarah. You´re the most wonderful, intelligent and beautiful girl I have seen in my entire life, even right now, without all the glamour. I know I must seem like the most entitled, stuck up girl you´ve ever met, but I swear I´m not like that.”

  
_And deep down you know that,_ Katherine added as an afterthought, because they had seen each other´s true colours on the night of the ball, even despite being masked.

“I didn´t recognize you, but it wasn´t because I couldn´t imagine you not being part of my class. Which is a stupid system anyways, but because I had seen the dress on stage and I got stuck on thinking that the person there could only be you. I was in a hurry, because I had snuck backstage and I didn´t want to be caught, I just wanted to find you,”

Katherine could feel the tears threatening to fall and she was too tired to resist. For once something good had come into her life and she had screwed it up, royally! She found herself biting her lip as she glanced over at Sarah, the tears running down her face.

Sarah, too, wasn´t quite able to hold back the tears now. She had barely stopped crying when Katherine had showed up at the bottom of the stairs and here she was, starting again. It was something she couldn´t help though, not when she listened to what the other girl had to say. Maybe she had overreacted, maybe she should have just told Katherine who she was and shouldn´t have hung onto the fairytale moment they had experienced. If they would have decided to give this a chance, whatever that meant, their lives surely wouldn´t have been a fairytale. She wasn´t sure how her parents would have reacted had they told them, but Sarah could only imagine the rage Pulitzer would have fallen into.

“I understand if you don´t want anything to do with me now,” Katherine continued and her voice was shaky as she spoke. Through her own tears Sarah could see the ones rolling down the other girl´s cheek and her heart grew heavy. She hadn´t been wrong about Katherine being different than she was painted in the papers. It was clear that the other girl wasn´t lying, she wasn´t making anything up, she was genuinely devastated about what she had done, Sarah could tell.

“Katherine,” she finally managed, not bothering to wipe away her own tears as she moved in and raised her hand to the Brunette´s face. “This…I didn´t think…I never assumed that this would happen,” she then confessed, wiping away the tears on the other girl´s face. “I wanted to have a night of fun, to enjoy myself…to wear a pretty dress for once.” She shook her head. “And then I stumbled into you and you…you were so different. I didn´t need to dance with anybody else that night, I felt like I was flying when I danced with you,” she couldn´t help the small smile that tugged on the corners of her lips. “And when you didn´t recognize me…it hurt my feelings, because that night? It was the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me,”

Katherine flinched at the words, but Sarah rested her hand against the Brunette´s cheek, keeping her in place. “I know you didn´t mean to hurt me…how could you? Look at you,” she let out a chuckle. “Look at _us_ , we´re a mess.”

It shouldn´t have been funny, not at all, and yet Katherine couldn´t help the small laugh that escaped her lips. “This is the most absurd situation I´ve ever been faced with,” she then admitted, “And I´ve seen some very strange plays,”

Sarah couldn´t help but laugh at that before finally wiping her tears away. “I know what mean,” she then agreed as her hand moved from Katherine´s cheek and found the other girl´s hand. Katherine´s heart felt as if it was about to leap right out of her chest and she squeezed Sarah´s hand, the genuine smile finally returning to her face.

If she was being honest she couldn´t even remember if she had genuinely smiled ever since that night she had spent dancing with Sarah, and if that wasn´t a clue to keep this girl around for the rest of her life, then she didn´t know.

“So…this isn´t going to be easy, is it?” Katherine eventually found herself whispering and Sarah smiled squeezing the Brunette´s hand.

“Well, what I have figured out so far is that you´re pretty stubborn.” She chuckled. “And I can be too…so I think we´ll be fine. But for now…how about you´ll come home with me for dinner?”

The light, which had been so compelling to Katherine in the first place, had returned to Sarah´s eyes and she couldn´t help but pull the other girl closer as they slowly moved down the street.

  
“Dinner sounds great,” she smiled and somewhere, behind a curtain or the door of a bar, a melody was playing and both girl were quietly humming along as they walked, somehow knowing that things would turn out just fine for them.


End file.
